Celestron Big Year - 28 March 2016: Over the Century Mark

Well, not long ago I made the prediction that with (at that time) upcoming trips to Los Angeles and San Diego I expected I should be closing in on one hundred different bird species for the Celestron Big Year. Well, “closing in” wasn’t quite accurate - I blew past it.  

From the Western Gull I saw on my first morning in L.A. to to the Western Grebes I watched while eating fish & chips at a dockside eatery after packing up the Celestron display at the San Diego Bird Festival, I tallied thirty-seven new species for the year over the week, bringing the current total up to one-hundred-fifteen.  

Along the journey, in the serendipitous way that birds sometimes tend to appear when not expected, I added American Avocet, both Black and Ruddy Turnstone, Eurasian Wigeon, and both Brandt’s and Pelagic Cormorant (good thing I had my Hummingbird micro spotting scope along to make this distinction). I also had plenty of superb looks at my favorite of all the gulls - Heermann’s. So all-in-all, the seabird section of my list is filling in nicely; however the Passerine section - sparrows, warblers, etc. - is still looking mighty thin.  

But not to worry; next on my travel agenda is The Biggest Week in American Birding, or as it is called by those who’ve been there, The Warbler Capital of the World. Stay tuned!  

Cheers and good birding to you,  

John